Today I was accepted into the Google App Engine beta, and successfully logged in to appengine.google.com, validated my account with a simple cell-phone text message protocol, and registered an application at mheller01.appspot.com (mheller.appspot.com was taken). I haven't yet put an application up there; when I do, it will initially require authentication. When I'm ready to open it up to the world for beta testing, I'll post the information here.

I find this timing interesting, although it may not have any significance at all. Maybe it really did take 8 months for my invitation to make it to the top of the application queue.

[Update: It looks like all the wait-listed applications have been accepted. In fact, anyone with a Gmail account and a cell phone can join, at code.google.com/appengine. It's still a preview, however, and free account limits apply.]

Now I just have to find my installation of the App Engine SDK and refresh it and/or reinstall the current version, and find some time to work with it. I only vaguely remember the Python architecture of the App Engine, so I'll also have to find time to refresh my understanding, and either try to remember what I had planned as a test case, or dream up a new one.

Martin Heller is a contributing editor and reviewer for InfoWorld. Formerly a web and Windows programming consultant, he developed databases, software, and websites from 1986 to 2010. More recently, he has served as VP of technology and education at Alpha Software and chairman and CEO at Tubifi.